


Serve the Sword

by J_J_Janson



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, M/M, Summer Romance, Summer Vacation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 02:36:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15698376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_J_Janson/pseuds/J_J_Janson
Summary: Kojiro wants a sparring partner, and Diarmuid has yet to deal with his demons. But together, they might find something more.





	Serve the Sword

Kojiro felt an itch. It wasn’t just all of the sand that had gotten between his toes, he had an itch for a sparring match. A fight. 

Since Kojiro, his master, and the other Servants had been stranded on this deserted island, they’d been busy setting up facilities around the island to make it livable. That had kept Kojiro’s attention for a time, but soon enough they had covered the basics and were able to slow their pace down. With that downtime came Kojiro’s irritation.

He was surrounded by other strong heroes, but no one wanted to spar with him. Martha seemed like she could be convinced, but that was still taking time. Time Kojiro spent restless. 

Was it because he was only a 1 star Servant? Did they think he was unworthy of their time?

As the other male servants did, Kojiro mostly avoided the women's side of the island. Alongside Karna,  Cú , Fionn, and Diarmuid, he spent most of his free time relaxing in a small, isolated cove. There were plans to build a smaller village deeper in the island, but that was still in the works. 

Among them Kojiro could not find a proper sparring partner. Karna was quiet and kept his distance.  Cú was busy fishing, or hunting, or hiding from Scathach, so he didn’t have time to spar. And Fionn gave Kojiro a bad feeling, and Diarmuid was always following behind him like a kicked puppy who still wanted treats. The dark-haired lancer seemed like he would serve as an excellent sparring partner, but he was easily cowed by his arrogant lord. A lord who seemed to greatly resent Diarmuid, and constantly shamed him. 

That left no proud warriors for Kojiro to fight.

At least, none presently.

***

It was hard to get Diarmuid alone. But after enough waiting there came a time when Diarmuid was on shift working on the main camp while Fionn retired himself to the men’s village. He would be gone for hours after Diarmuid finished his shift, so Kojiro sat at the entrance to their private cove.

It reminded him of standing guard outside that temple, cursed by that witch Medea. Thankfully, she had not been brought on this mission, and Chaldea was large enough that Kojiro could avoid her. 

But that time had taught him how to sit back and appreciate quiet. That was something he had forgotten in life, as he grew older he’d dedicated himself more and more completely to the sword. By the time of his death, Kojiro could hardly be called a person, he was only a shell that contained a lifetime’s experience in swordsmanship. That may have been why he had been chosen by the Throne of Heroes to take on the role of Sasaki Kojiro. Not only was he capable of the Swallow Reversal, he had no name of his own that could distract from Kojiro’s. 

But that Grail War saw Kojiro serving another Servant, and spending his entire time guarding her lair. He had little chance to show his stuff there. Most of his time was spent waiting. 

Just as he was now, just as he didn’t in life.

Diarmuid shook him from his reverie. “Kojiro? I was told you wished to speak with me after my work was done.” 

Kojiro nodded, then jumped off the rock he had been sitting on. “Come with me, Diarmuid.”

The Lancer followed obediently. 

Diarmuid followed without asking any questions. 

Eventually, their silence was interrupted by the roar of a waterfall. 

Once they were in earshot, it wasn’t long before they came upon the small spring Kojiro had discovered. It was a private place for a duel. 

Kojiro drew his katana, but he did not use it on Diarmuid. Instead, he simply began practicing his technique, as he had spent all of his time doing in life. 

“Oh, Kojiro, did you just want to spar? I can give you a quick match, but I should probably go see what my king needs.”

Kojiro held up a hand. “I do not wish to spar with you. At least, not as you are now.” He turned to Diarmuid. “Let me ask you a question instead: Who do I serve?”

The question caught Diarmuid off guard. “You serve our master, correct?”

Kojiro shook his head. “That is not what I mean. I respect our master, and will serve her with pride. But my service will end when this Grand Order is completed. Eventually, I will be summoned into a new Grail War, with a new master. But I will still serve something. It is what defines me as a Heroic Spirit, just as it does you.”

“What is it you serve?” Diarmuid asked.

“My sword. I gave my life to my training. I gave my identity up for a chance to become Sasaki Kojiro. I have undying loyalty to that above all else.”

Diarmuid did not know what to say. Was Kojiro trying to make a point?

“You follow Fionn around like a lonely puppy does a neglectful owner. You regret being unable to serve him in life, so you waste this one trying to serve him again. But why serve him when you have your spears?”

Kojiro turned his attention away from Diarmuid, focusing instead on his practice. 

Diarmuid was left alone with his thoughts. 

Kojiro’s words had cut Diarmuid far deeper than his sword ever could. Was he truly so pathetic? 

He genuinely respected Fionn, in spite of his failings he was a skilled warrior and leader. 

But when Diarmuid had been summoned into the Fourth Holy Grail War, he had viewed that as redemption for his past failings. The chance to serve a master with loyalty once again. 

All he had gotten from that experience was a deep bitterness. 

Could Diarmuid find in Gáe Dearg and Gáe Buidhe what he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, find in Fionn?

He took his spears in hand, and stepped up to Kojiro.

“Kojiro, please allow me to test myself against your devotion.”

That earned a grin from Kojiro. “I would be honored.”

***

The moon shone down on Diarmuid, Fionn, and Kojiro, amidst a half destroyed farm. They had volunteered for guard duty, Diarmuid and Fionn wishing to live up to their name of the Knights of Fianna, and Kojiro still attached to his role as a gatekeeper. Fionn had been reluctant to allow him to stay, but Scathach had insisted. 

They waited in silence, eyes scanning the woods surrounding the field. 

The air around Diarmuid was different from usual. More confident. Fionn did not like it.

But he did not have long to resent it as something began crashing through the jungle. 

The trio drew their weapons, and turned towards the noise. 

Just as the crashing reached the edge of the jungle, everything went silent. 

Fionn stepped forward, cautiously approaching the spot where they had last heard the crashing. 

Without warning, a shape burst from the brush to his left, a black mass rushing towards Fionn.

Before the knight could react, the shape slammed into him, and Fionn let out a gasp.

Momentum carried the dark mass forward, eventually slamming Fionn into a tree. 

Kojiro and Diarmuid had no time to react, only able to watch as the heaping mass of muscle and fur threw Fionn’s body off of its tusk. “It knew to go after the healer first,” Fionn growled as his form collapsed into a cloud of gold dust.

As the light faded from where Fionn had fallen, all that was left was the hulking giant boar now staring down Kojiro and Diarmuid. It sized them up, knowing it had lost the element of surprise. This was no ordinary boar.

Diarmuid could not bring himself to move. His liege had been killed by a giant boar, mirroring Diarmuid’s own death. And Diarmuid would soon be joining him.

Kojiro stepped forward, sword drawn. “It appears I must serve as a gatekeeper against a worthy opponent once again. While in life I had no chance to face such a beast, my existence as a Servant continues to provide me with worthy opponents.”

Diarmuid’s fist tightened. He wasn’t the man who’d been gored by a boar. He was a Heroic Spirit. This new existence gave him another chance to stare down fate, and this time win against the same kind of monster that had ended his life.

The boar was done waiting, it could tell Diarmuid and Kojiro would not rush towards it, so it impatiently charged at them. 

Hooves tore up the tilled earth and vegetables, flinging dirt and greens in the air. A storm was kicked up by the boar as it crossed the distance between itself and its opponents. 

Kojiro stood his ground, awaiting his opponent.

The boar’s path of destruction would soon bring it into contact with Kojiro, who held his sword ready to deliver his signature attack.

Soon enough, Kojiro could feel the hot breath of the boar just moments before he could attack.

And then a red light erupted from the cloud of debris surrounding the boar, tearing into the boar, Diarmuid’s spear ripping through the boar’s hide like it was a cake. The beast exuded mana that allowed its tusk to pierce a servant and its hide to withstand most attacks, but Diarmuid could pierce that barrier. 

There was a flash of gold as Diarmuid lashed out with his other spear, hitting the spot he had pierced just as it was trying to knit itself back together. This attack dug even deeper, and the boar’s efforts to heal itself failed after Diarmuid pulled his spear out. 

The force Diarmuid put into the attacks, which struck in the blink of an eye, sent the boar off its intended course, no longer barreling towards Kojiro.

As the boar passed the samurai, it couldn’t turn away quickly enough to hide its wound, and suddenly three streams of dark ichor were flying from the boar. Kojiro’s attack had rent three more wounds in the beast, and its legs could no longer support it so the boar toppled forward under its own weight.

Just as Fionn had, the beast began to fade away into a black cloud of mist. 

That left Kojiro and Diarmuid standing alone in the moonlight. 

“That was a fearsome beast, and it made a fine opponent,” Kojiro remarked, satisfied at finally being given a worthy match. 

“I fought it for myself,” Diarmuid said, mostly to himself. “I defeated it not for my Master, or my liege, but because I will no longer be haunted by the monsters of my past.” He turned to Kojiro. “Thank you for teaching me, Kojiro.”

Kojiro simply shrugged. “I wanted you in peak condition. That was it.”

Diarmuid did not mind Kojiro’s cold response. “You do not know what it means to me to receive kindness from someone who does not want anything from me. Not loyalty, not love, simply a sparring partner.”

Yes, that was all Kojiro had wanted. A sparring partner.

***

All Kojiro had wanted from Diarmuid was a sparring partner, but for reasons he could not comprehend he had ended up with a boyfriend.

Now, Diarmuid spent all of his free time with Kojiro. Which, yes, was what Kojiro had initially wanted. But he had expected to spend that time sparring. 

Instead, Diarmuid would take walks along the beach with him. He built a cabin for the two of them to share. He constantly consulted Kojiro on his opinions about what kind of wood would be best, what style of windows, whether or not to include a door, prefered furniture, and so many other details. Kojiro could now understand what his Master was dealing with off in her harem camp. 

And he found he didn’t mind it.

There was something relaxing about sitting outside the cove the male servants had taken as their own, waiting for Diarmuid to finish his shift, and instead of running off to spar, simply sitting together and enjoying the sunset. 

  
  



End file.
